Whale Dies After Swallowing 80 Plastic Bags

A post-mortem examination has revealed that a male pilot whale in southern Thailand has died from swallowing more than 80 plastic bags, weighting up to 17 pounds in the mammal’s stomach.

The whale was found barely alive and vomiting up five bags while rescuers battled to save him, according to marine officials.

CREDIT “AFP PHOTO / WWW.THAIWHALES.ORG “

Photos posted on the Facebook page for ThaiWhales, a conservation group, showed volunteers working to save the sick whale by shading the mammal while giving it medicine and fluids.

Jatuporn Buruspat, head of the department, told Reuters the pilot whale likely thought the plastic bags were food, and after eating the bags became sick and unable to hunt for food.

Plastic in the oceans is one of the biggest concerns to the it’s health and conservation of marine animals. It is predicted that by 2025, plastic in the ocean is expected to triple.

We can curve this problem, but need to do it by stopping plastic from getting into our environment. The best way to do this is to say no to using plastic and to cut the source. Start at your local level by talking to grocery stores and restaurants to make them aware of the issue. It will take public pressure to get single-use plastics banned but that pressure has shown to work as more countries and cities are adopting plastic bans.